Thursday, July 22, 2010

Disregard Previous Post

Not Really. Two straight sub-par offensive outings doesn't make me think the Reds will forever be stuck in a scoring slump. They do need to get Scott Rolen back in a hurry. The way Dusty was talking Thursday, the Reds are hoping he's back very soon. He's going on the road trip with them. But hoping doesn't mean it will happen, and that has me a little concerned. Meantime I'll remain amused by the people going crazy because the Reds lost two straight to the Nationals. Two days ago everyone was happy-happy. Now the sky is falling,,,,,,,, again. We'd be out of sky by now if it was really falling every time baseball fans go into "chicken little" mode.

I can't figure out why Dusty went ahead with a scheduled off day for Votto Thursday. The Reds were already missing one main cog in Rolen, they had lost the previous night, and righthander Livan Hernandez was on the mound. If Votto were a 36 year old veteran, then maybe. But the dude's 26. I can't imagine a 26 year old first baseman really needs a break 7 games into the second half of the season. If Prince Fielder can answer the bell every game, I'm sure Votto can as well. I get keeping a guy fresh, but Thursday was a game the Reds really needed Joey in the lineup.

So now Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans. Let me guess, he would like to go a few hours south to Miami maybe? Or somewhere else where a ready-made roster awaits so a shot at a championship is more realistic. I'm not liking what's going on in the NBA. In fact, I'm really getting more and more respect for Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Jordan stayed the course with the Bulls while the tried to find enough pieces to make a run. Then after retirement, he came back and did it again. Kobe had it made with Shaquille O'Neal. After Shaq left, he hung in there while the Lakers found a way to rebuild and win more championships. Some of this stuff going on makes me believe there is a whole bunch of 20=somethings out that go for the instant gratification instead of wanting to roll up their sleeves, got to work, and accomplish something on their own.

It's hard, no, make that impossible for the NCAA to keep up with all of these player-agent mating dances taking place. If the most recent reports are true, it's getting rampant and I don't know what the answer is. I would like to believe the NFL and the players association would like to help clean it up by decertifying agents who break the rules. But I'm not sure I see that happening.